1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to feed pellets for marine animals including fish and to the process for making the same.
2. Problem
In the past there has been considerable waste of fish food supplied for feeding fish in rearing tanks and ponds in fish hatcheries and fisheries because of one or more undesirable characteristics of the fish food. When the fish food is supplied in pellet form, the pellets may be so hard as to be unpalatable to the fish and, consequently, rejected by them. On the other hand, the pellets may be so soft or friable that they disintegrate or dissolve so quickly that they become largely unavailable for fish food. Other pellets are so hard and dense that they sink to the bottom of the tank or pond where they are not readily available to the fish.
Another disadvantage of prior fish feed pellets is that they deteriorated undesirably quickly, particularly if they were not refrigerated. Other pellets contained less fat or oil than was desirable in order to make them less subject to disintegration.
The result of the use of such prior pellets was that a substantial amount of the fish food was unavailable to the fish and such unavailable portion of the fish food served to enrich or fertilize the tanks or ponds so as to promote the growth of algae and aquatic vegetation which is undesirable in rearing tanks or ponds.